His Heart’s Revenge by Jenny Holiday, Behind the Book

His Heart’s Revenge started as a Twitter conversation, but, funnily, not one that I was part of.

My friend Gwen Hayes mentioned to me she’d had a twitter convo with Entangled’s Associate Publisher, Heather Howland. Heather, she said, was looking for someone to write a m/m Indulgence. (Gwen also happened to be the editor who initially acquired the 49th Floor Series, but she’d left the company by this point and was no longer my editor. Well, she was no longer my editor-editor, but clearly she was still my fairy god-editor.)

An idea popped instantly into my mind.

I said to Gwen, “OMG, someone needs to write one where they’re both workaholic jerk-faces. It can be called IN BED WITH THE WORKAHOLIC JERK-FACE.” (That is an actual quote. I went and unearthed our exchange. I’m awfully articulate for a writer, dontcha think?)

I already had three books in the 49th Floor series in which the CEO dudes were somewhere on the “workaholic jerk-face” spectrum. So why not a gay workaholic jerk-face CEO dude? I mean, the world is full of workaholic jerk-face CEO dudes. Surely some of them must be gay.

Fast forward through some proposal writing and tweaking, and we were off to the races. There was also, I’m sure you’ll be shocked to hear, a title change. (What? IN BED WITH THE WORKAHOLIC JERK-FACE doesn’t say insta-bestselller to you?!?)

From there, this book actually came really easily. From the initial idea of warring CEOs to the deeper idea that one had hurt the other terribly at summer camp years ago, it practically wrote itself. I’ve never written a book this quickly, before or since (alas).

I love this book as a book, but I also love that it is part of a series that now mixes m/f and m/m romance—you know, just like real life. You don’t see that too often, much less in category imprints.

So! I hope you enjoy these two workaholic jerk-faces as much as I do!

About the book:

Twenty years ago, I was too smart and too poor to be cool. Now I’m laughing my way to the bank—the bank I’m CEO of. Nothing can touch me.Except maybe him.

We met at summer camp. We made out under the stars. Then he stabbed me in the back.

They say revenge is a dish best served cold. But I’m gonna go with hot.

Alexander Evangelista is a millionaire with all the trappings: houses all over the world and hot guys lined up whenever he’s in need of some no-strings-attached company. He’s on his way to world domination.

A CEO in his own right, Cary Bell is competing for a major client with his boyhood crush. He’s never forgiven himself for betraying Alex. But with his professional reputation on the line, he’s going to have to find his inner cutthroat if he wants his new company to succeed.

Alex isn’t about to let his nemesis steal a client out from under him. It’s time to break Cary’s company—and his heart.

Find it online:

About the author:

Jenny Holiday started writing at age nine when her fourth grade teacher gave her a notebook and told her to start writing stories. That first batch featured mass murderers on the loose, alien invasions, and hauntings. From then on, she was always writing, often in her diary, where she liked to decorate declarations of existential angst with nail polish teardrops. Later, she channeled her penchant for scribbling into a more useful format, picking up a PhD in geography and then working in PR. Eventually, she figured out that happy endings were more fun than alien invasions. You can follow her on twitter at @jennyholi or visit her on the web at jennyholiday.com.